Exploration continued

The thread of spiritual themed art that runs through my work

I took down the “Bookmark for Mother Teresa '' from the wall of my office to photograph for my previous post. It had been held up by four push pins possibly to cover something else up. At first I thought I should take the time to wrap the piece around a canvas or place it in a frame, until I saw the back. 

On the Left : Bookmark of Mother Teresa
On Right: Back Panel with Sleeze and Lable/Artist Statement
fabric, paper, photo transfers - 30 x 24 2010

Like most established artists I had a “tribe”. In 2010, mine was made up of fellow art teachers who would take a few weeks in the summer (after a little rest and before beginning planning lessons and making samples) that would get together to share work and organize an exhibition. I had been working for several years in water media and cut paper with some pretty good success selling at small venues, but the series has run its course. I was looking for new ideas that would not require expensive framing and could be easily stored.

A class on Photo Transfer, Fabric Mixed Media Collage checked these boxes, so I signed up. “Bookmark” was completed over a couple days. The class was sponsored by a group called Colorado Contemporary Quilters. I was new to the group but immediately felt welcome in an environment of enthusiastic makers. One thing that struck me was their ability to test any material or techinique. To abandon the requirements of craft associated with quilting and dive in to a process.

I was not coming from the quilt world and my lack of skills showed in the construction. The piece has no batting. Instead, I fused the wrong side of two fabrics together framed with a rough binding. I had an oversized uneven sleeve that was glued in place.  The backing was sewn together with raw frayed fabric rectangles forming a cross. At the center of the cross was the “label” which quilters use to document the piece. Unlike a typical quilt label that includes documentation (materials, date, made by, instructions for care, etc.…) my label was an artist statement. 

As I read the statement dated 2010 (five years before I began to seriously pursue establishing myself in the art quilt movement and ten years after my thesis mentioned in my previous post) I found evidence of the thread of spirituality that has run through my work for years emerging once again.  

Copy of the label below:

Let nothing disturb you.

Nothing frightens you.

All things are passing

God never changes

Patience obtains all things

Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God

God alone suffices

This prayer was written by Saint Teresa of Avila and inspires my visual meditation. She was said to be a beautiful woman with a strong will. Teresa was a writer and leader within her convent and the Catholic Church in the 16th century. The small prayer was found in a book shortly after Teresa’s death and is known as her bookmark.

Teresa’s image appears with her iconic portrait near the center. In addition to Teresa is a picture of a Japanese family held in an internment camp during World War II, a photograph of the ship Endurance which sailed to the Antarctic in 1914, and an image of the invincible Hindu Goddess: Durga. 

Four ideas to consider meditating on: Nothing disturbs me - Want nothing - Patient endurance
God suffices

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Any creative expression does not come from a vacuum. It grows from experience and is enriched when reflected upon. It’s the reason I am writing here on Substack and the reason I always write a brief statement after a piece is photographed. Author Rick Rubin says that meaning is made after the process. I agree with him.

My inspiration (before I began making) came from the ephemera I brought with my supplies including some random prayer cards that I found in my mother’s Catholic Missal after her death. The result is not a memory of my mother, prayer cards, or religious iconography, the meaning is a meditation on trusting the universe to bring the fulfill one's desires.  

Five years later I retired and moved from a large house into a patio home on a golf course. My studio was a bedroom that I configured with custom storage in a closet and flexible rolling table. It was cramped but efficient. Over those five years I learned a lot more about construction and specifically about quilting. The biggest change as an artist was being able to devote myself fulltime to my studio. 

In 2015 I let go of the collage style I had started in that 2010 workshop but I didn’t cast aside working with spiritual ideas. In 2015 I made pieces which I thought of as my meditation series. The first is a woman who looks up and to the right while sparrows fly around her. There are waves of bright colors, swirls, and round shapes moving in this visual ocean. The figure is unmoving. It was a portrait of beginning the process to quiet the mind. 

I have named and renamed this piece. At one stage it was called “Release”. The idea being that if you can quiet the mind and look beyond yourself; then you can release any turmoil you are feeling. Currently it is named “Just Thinking”. It hangs in my studio above the rack where I store large fabric ready to be painted. It is a reminder to me that stopping, sitting quietly, and waiting for the seas to calm will produce solutions. 

Zazen 34 x 32

Zazen is for sale at a very modest price. Free Shipping via FedEx and bamboo hanging rod. Comment if you are interested!

A more successful project finished in January of 2016 is Zazen. The title is a reference to the pillow used for meditation. I had just purchased a zazen online after realizing I couldn’t sit comfortably for any period on just the floor. Using the Zazen inspired this piece. The portrait has a figure sitting with her eyes closed in meditation. The background has small shapes floating upward along curved lines of stitching. The figure is illuminated with the colors of the Chakras and sits in calm waters. Zazen traveled widely with the Sacred Threads exhibition. 

“Be Present” is a recent addition to my string of spiritual work. It’s large: 35 x 48. The quilting on this one is outstanding. Recently it hung in the Springville Museum at the 100th annual Salon. The competition was fierce with approximately 1600 entries and 200 selections. I was very proud to be included. 

This piece goes beyond my growth as an artist and quilter. It represents my spiritual growth. There are two figures bumped up to each other. One faces forward to a bright sun filled sky. The second figure faces the opposite direction into fading into the cool colors of it’s background. It’s a representation of spiritual growth. Learning to be quiet in the moment and to be at peace with the past. To face forward and to trust the Universe to point you in the right direction. 

Until Next Time
Margaret